No "organics" in Martian soil

Recent analysis of Martian soil has revealed there are "no organics" present in samples taken by the Mars Curiosity Rover. Recent rumors began to spread that "there are major new findings from the mission," but officials at NASA say those rumors were "incorrect." The findings will be presented at a news conference on December 3.

Update Set in San Francisco About Curiosity Mars Rover

Rumors and speculation that there are major new findings from the mission at this early stage are incorrect. The news conference will be an update about first use of the rover's full array of analytical instruments to investigate a drift of sandy soil. One class of substances Curiosity is checking for is organic compounds -- carbon-containing chemicals that can be ingredients for life. At this point in the mission, the instruments on the rover have not detected any definitive evidence of Martian organics.

A few weeks earlier, John Grotzinger, chief scientist of the the Curiosity team said in an interview with NPR that a major discovery would be announced regarding the rover:

‘This data is gonna be one for the history books. It’s looking really good'

*Sigh* I will await comments before I post my own.

reply to post by DragonFire1024

*Sigh* Seems like so many threads on this topic already.

I guess we'll find out on or about December 3. They could have just waited until then to announce whatever it is without all the hype.

Of course not.

The news is related to the Prothean Beacon and archives discovered.

reply to post by Arbitrageur

The hype came from the media, not NASA. There was no announcement. The whole brouhaha was based on that single quote from Grotzinger in the interview. The data retrieved by Curiosity will be historic...no matter what it indicates...because such analysis has never been done.

Originally posted by Phage
reply to post by Arbitrageur

 

The hype came from the media, not NASA. There was no announcement. The whole brouhaha was based on that single quote from Grotzinger in the interview. The data retrieved by Curiosity will be historic...no matter what it indicates...because such analysis has never been done.

edit on 11/29/2012 by Phage because: (no reason given)

Precisely what I was thinking. Seems like every time there is something to do with an announcement, MSM finds some way to take any words said about it, out of context to suit their ratings.

If they were to find anything do you honestly think they would say, "Hey, there's life on Mars" ?

Deny, deny, deny. It's what they are taught and what is expected.

Originally posted by cavalryscout
If they were to find anything do you honestly think they would say, "Hey, there's life on Mars" ?

Deny, deny, deny. It's what they are taught and what is expected.

edit on 29-11-2012 by cavalryscout because: (no reason given)

How can you know that? Have you talked to scientists? Why is astrobiology part of the mainstream science? Why is the next Mars rover mission going specifically look for signs of life on Mars, past or present?

Something doesnt sound right wtih all of this...

Why would no organic material be one for the history books? Why announce it in the manner they did only to backtrack from it?

Im curious if this was the actual announcement or if its just a placeholder in hopes people wont ask questions?

Posting this here because I'm not allowed to make new threads yet... It is relevant.

They may not have found anything organic in the soil, but sitting on the surface of the soil apparently they've found PLASTIC SPHERES!

Mars Rover Press Release
nasaupdatecenter.us...

Most people shrug at this when I show them... This could be absolutely HUGE - as the only place we know of plastic originating besides very advanced synthesis technology is from OIL which originates of course from.. fossilized once-living stuff! They have various hypotheses but obviously one cannot ignore what is the most likely reason (at least here on earth).

Here's hoping.

Originally posted by cartesia
Posting this here because I'm not allowed to make new threads yet... It is relevant.

They may not have found anything organic in the soil, but sitting on the surface of the soil apparently they've found PLASTIC SPHERES!

Mars Rover Press Release
nasaupdatecenter.us...

Most people shrug at this when I show them... This could be absolutely HUGE - as the only place we know of plastic originating besides very advanced synthesis technology is from OIL which originates of course from.. fossilized once-living stuff! They have various hypotheses but obviously one cannot ignore what is the most likely reason (at least here on earth).

Here's hoping.

I thought that was a joke. Until I clicked the link.

What the??

I'm sure there's a logical explanation.

reply to post by cartesia


Nice find!, that article proves 100% that there IS organic material there.. Nasa scientists are even quoted as saying so... They say it is from petro chemicals, and that is organic chemistry 101...and now we see this backtracking by them, it doesn't make much sense at all..

Originally posted by alienreality
reply to post by cartesia

 

Nice find!, that article proves 100% that there IS organic material there.. Nasa scientists are even quoted as saying so... They say it is from petro chemicals, and that is organic chemistry 101...and now we see this backtracking by them, it doesn't make much sense at all..

Someone needs to make a separate thread about this. I will not for certain reasons, but please - someone get on that.

Unless our logic is off, he's right. This is chemistry 101.

Edit - a hoax site? Really? Good one.

stop spreading hoax links

sheesh it's worse than a virus...

take the tinfoil hats off

Originally posted by Cito
stop spreading hoax links

sheesh it's worse than a virus...

take the tinfoil hats off

That was a good one. The site looks so legit.

nasaupdatecenter.us...

All links but the top two (of the face and the plastic) go straight to NASA/JPL, etc.

Gahhhhh! That was just a hoax? lol, I fell for that pretty easy.. Had my guard down..

Originally posted by impaired

Originally posted by Cito
stop spreading hoax links

sheesh it's worse than a virus...

take the tinfoil hats off

That was a good one. The site looks so legit.

nasaupdatecenter.us...

All links but the top two (of the face and the plastic) go straight to NASA/JPL, etc.

Here's the final word on the "NasaUpdate" site. A marketing weenie was behind the thing, trying to sell his Mardi-Gras beads.

cosmiclog.nbcnews.com...

Man im not huge into the conspiracy crap but man...how can they be sooooo off the mark on this....someone somewhere told somebody something good.....its not even decent...its oh ya same stuff we found last time. Seems really odd and I dont believe in most of the conspiracy stuff at all. Weird.

Originally posted by DragonFire1024

Update Set in San Francisco About Curiosity Mars Rover

At this point in the mission, the instruments on the rover have not detected any definitive evidence of Martian organics.

Hate to make a fuss over a word, but just what does 'definitive' mean in this statement? If the rover hasn't detected ANY evidence, then there's no need for 'definitive' to be in there. My assumption is that 'definitive' means they found something. Wouldn't you think?

reply to post by jiggerj

Yes.

Reactions with other chemicals in SAM's oven formed chlorinated methane compounds, which geologists consider organic chemicals because they contain carbon. Mahaffy said it was most likely that the chlorine came from a perchlorate-like compound in the soil. However, he said it wasn't yet clear whether the tiny amount of carbon in the compounds came from the Martian soil or was actually brought to Mars from Earth by Curiosity itself.

cosmiclog.nbcnews.com...

How can one conclude on a tiny experiment. I found some pictures on mars that are not earth shaking but curious as the name of the rover is.

A straight border


Two dog like creatures


A paw and a foot. who made these?